Despite the ever-growing digital disruption in the domain of social media platforms, seniors are lonely more than ever before. Whatever be the root cause, whether they are unlettered to the usage of modern technology or disinterested in virtual connection, the baby boomers experience the highest level of solitude.
What Factors Chain An Elder In The Strings Of Isolation?
Many choose desolation as an option. Since it is up to you whether you want to keep connected with your family and kin or wish to stay away from gatherings. However, unarguably, the social circle shrinks as soon as an individual steps into his declining age. Either their bosom friends bid farewell to this eternal world, their well-acquainted ones migrate to some untraceable place, or the people in their good-book get indulged in their own family. Lack of transportation, disability, and mobility issues can also contribute as a hurdle in getting connected with loved ones.
As a matter of fact, we can’t stop the ticking of clocks and arrest the process of aging. The signs of seniority get visible no matter how much you attempt to avoid them. Since aging brings fragility, impaired vision, decreased mobility, and nagging health concerns, it becomes problematic to leave the house. Elders who have blindness or deafness or need external aid to perform their daily errands may also compromise on stepping out of the house due to embarrassment or dependability factors. As a result, they chain themselves in the strings of isolation.
Does Loneliness Lead To Severe Consequences?
Loneliness apparently doesn’t seem to be troublesome at first; however, when it is measured for an elderly citizen, it is not something to keep at negligence anymore.
Mental and Physical Health Get Drained Out
Loneliness contributes to substantial problems under the hood, impacting an individual’s physical health and quality of life. According to research by the University Of California, San Francisco (UCSF), elders in their 60s who were supposedly victims of isolation showed a 45% increased death risk. The study further revealed that they had a 59% increased risk of physical and mental health decline, jeopardizing their ability to function smoothly in their day-to-day tasks.
Body Surrenders to Many Serious Ailments
Scientists state that isolation physiologically impacts the same way as chronic stress does on the human body. When a person is subject to isolation, there is a likelihood of the stress hormones release, called cortisol. This hormone not only stimulates inflammation and damages immunity but also contributes to heart disease and diabetes. The other threatening aftermath of loneliness is early Alzheimer’s disease.
These serious implications stress an individual to rectify his parents’ isolation by remedying their loneliness with favorable options. If you are looking for tips to overcome your aging parent’s loneliness, further discussion will open the world of opportunities to fight against desolation.
Tips and Tricks to Combat Loneliness in Aging Parents
The consequences are severe; however, there are always certain ways out for problems and concerns. Your parents must be of declining age and experiencing loneliness. But you don’t need to be concerned any longer. This article attempts to bring before you all those quirky tips that you need to execute to overcome your parents’ isolation.
Get ready to set the wheels in motion with these functional strategies.
Pay Heed to Their Sayings
All an individual needs are open ears. Your parents once used to decode your broken language; now, they want you to understand their fragmented conversation. Investing your few minutes with them will help you to dilute the consequences of their loneliness.
Encourage them to strike up a conversation with you, provoke them to ask questions, and express themselves.
It seems easy at first; however, it requires persistent patience and dedication. Their willingness to get actively engaged with you will consume considerable time.
Plan To Execute What They Love
Try to jot down the things your parents love to engage in. Learn what their interests are, and design a plan that incorporates their interests in it. If your parents love listening to music, tune their favorite playlist while feeding them or motivate them to join a community choir.
Engage Your Parents in Something New To Them
Engage your parents in those activities which they didn’t try or attempt to try. This will help them unwind their tangled thoughts and refresh their mind. A new hobby is equivalent to keeping an individual actively busy. New activities may include meeting with new people, joining a book club and local community center to participate in fun-loving undertakings.
Make Them Talk To Young Ones
It is a common saying that people start behaving like a kid when they enter their feeble age. Thus, the best remedy to tackle their loneliness is bridging the generation gap. Let them play with their grandchildren or the neighbors’ kids, which will eventually instill the feeling of happiness and joy in them.
Drag Them out If they Are Mobility-Reluctant
Many senior citizens don’t want to leave the comfort of their homes and become extremely reluctant when it comes to taking them outside. As an offspring, you must break their shell and drag them out. Remaining in an ogress environment will stale their spirits, so it is necessary to introduce them to the outside climate.
Bring Them a Living Toy — A Pet Animal
Although animals cannot be an alternative to human companionship, they can still serve as a good time passing object. Your parents can spend their time taking care of the pet means they are physically participating. Their physical engagements will not only help them get physical but mental benefits as well. In fact, according to a study, a pet stimulates chemical reactions in the brain that are responsible for lessening cortisol levels and increasing serotonin generation.
Takeaway
The ways mentioned above serve as an excellent antidote to combatting senior citizen’s loneliness. If you have one in your home, don’t let them stand in the desert of disappointment and desolation for so long.
Your parents owe you so much more than what you can give them. They need you, and you need them for sure.